International and Ford haven't been the best of friends lately, with the two companies sparring over compensation for the Powerstroke 6.4L. International stopped making the engines in protest earlier in the year, but this time the union has walked out on International. Even with the strike, Ford hasn't yet suspended production of the Super Duty at its Louisville plant. If the strike lasts more than a few days, however, the blue oval will simply run out of parts with which to build the big truck.
Union rhetoric points to what may be a longer strike than we saw at GM and Chrysler, and if days turn into weeks, Ford could lose $22 million a week in lost profits. International supplies Ford with up to 250,000 Powerstroke 6.4L engines per year, and the oil burner reaps Ford's largest profit margins. We're pretty sure Ford is in no shape to lose out on $22 million a week, so lets hope this union spat ends quickly.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Guenther @ Oct 25th 2007 1:11PM
Wow- that means Ford makes over a Billion dollars a year selling Powerstrokes. That's a lot of lettuce.
I though they had a larger supply than a few days, though. This might make Nissan rethink sourcing the Titan Diesel from ITEC.
Michael @ Oct 25th 2007 1:23PM
The unions are killing the big three. They are so stupid they are shooting themselves in the foot. If Ford goes out of business, do you think they'll have a job? In regular business if someone decides not to come to work for a few days, they're fired. If that happens in a union, they are given more money. Go figure.
Gary Blomquist @ Oct 25th 2007 2:29PM
I think that there major mistake in this article.
Namely, International/Navstar and Ford aren't bickering over the 6.4 Powerstroke, but over the departed 6.0 Powerstroke that was a real bain to Ford, as it cost Ford millions and millions of dollars in excessive warranty work. Ford passed on much of their warranty costs to Navstar/International, and International claimed that the problems were with Ford, as Ford did a lot of their own in-house changes to the Navstar 6.0 diesel, and International claimed that this is where the majority of the costs of warranty claims arose-from; namely Fords tweaking or re-engineering the 6.0 Powerstroke for their light duty P.U. truck needs.
So International balked at building/delivering anymore 6.0 Powerstrokes until compensated by Ford. It became a big old court case. I believe International was told to get their delivery of 6.0's going again to Ford, while the bickering over who owed who was worked out in court.
Also, there is still such an abundance of undelivered 6.0 Powerstrokes stockpiled, that Ford is continuing to offer them in their E-350 or one ton passenger and cargo version van that is commonly used for ambulance/government, and similar work. These are also detuned about 100 H.P. from the 6.0 powerstrokes, as the van engine bays can't dissipate the tremendous heat put out by this newer turboed diesels. So even the GM Duramax that is offered in Cargo, 1 ton versions of their full size van our detuned for similar reasons; namely heat dissipation problems.
The 6.4 Powerstroke is not the issue, but the previous 6.0 was.
Also, recent dyno tests done, and please don't ask me for the truck magazine that did this some months ago, but in a head to head test of the 2008 light duty truck diesels from GM, Ford, and Dodge; The new 6.4 Ford Powerstroke was very much down in rear wheel H.P./Torque, accelleration seconds with and without a payload or trailer attached to the 6.7 Dodge Cummins and the 6.6 Chevy/GMC Duramax. Also the 6.4 fuel effieciency figures also were very much lower than the Dodge Cummins and GM Duramax.
******
Now, I've heard that Nissan is working out something with Navstar/International to put a possible V6 diesel in a heavy duty Titan. I sure hope Nissan doesn't get bitten in the arse with problems. Why they didn't consider an engine via Cummins or via GM and the a Duramax derivative, I just don't know.
Although, International claims that the majority of warranty woes from Ford have been related to Ford's alterations/innovations of the International/Navstar 6.0 diesel for their light duty P.U. use, the 6.4 is still a big old question mark. I've heard that this 6.4 still may be an interim engine and that Ford maybe working on an in-house diesel. That could be rumor at most, as the R7D for designing a competetive diesel of the likes of what is already available in the light duty truck market is a big challenge.
Guenther @ Oct 25th 2007 3:20PM
Gary- the article isn't wrong one bit. At one point, Ford stopped paying for 6.4L engines, because ITEC wasn't coughing up money for the 6L warranty jobs. In return, ITEC stopped shipping 6.4L's. this was back in the spring.
Jared @ Oct 25th 2007 3:36PM
Ford is indeed working on their own diesel engine in-house. Given the complexity of meeting the current pollution regulations along with the power requirements, I'm sure the Ford engine is several years away.
Note that Ford is also working on a smaller displacement engine (4-4.5l) for the F-150. I suspect we'll see that before we see a replacement for the 6.4.
Hamud @ Oct 25th 2007 2:57PM
So, why the Union had to take part on Ford vs Navistar issue? They are really shooting its own foot...
elprogramer @ Oct 25th 2007 9:48PM
They're not.
International has violated their work agreement many times over and broken labor laws. Then I read International locked out their own employees and refused to cooperate with the bargaining unit.
Say what you want about "greed" and what not, but this is a fair and honest strike. You can't work when your employer is changing the terms of his agreement with you arbitrarily.
Gary Blomquist @ Oct 25th 2007 3:51PM
The 6.4 may be the hinge-pin to exact some punishment, but as I said before, it revolves around the infamous 6.0 Powerstroke, that was a warranty-cost pig to Ford, and International.
Herb @ Oct 25th 2007 8:11PM
2009 Ford F-150 4.4 L Turbo Diesel V8 330 HP 515 Lbs from what ive read
MikeW @ Oct 27th 2007 1:10AM
Seems plausible, the ZF 6hp28 max torque is 700meter-newtons 516ft-lbs.
Donald Hindle @ Oct 26th 2007 12:20AM
They are sourcing engines from a non union plant in Alabama. http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071025/BUSINESS/71025029
All the John Galt wannabes are wetting themselves with glee no doubt.